Ceasefire Ceased? Hezbollah Fires Mortars at Israel on Day Six of Truce

December 3, 2024

by: JNS

Tuesday, 3 December 2024 | Hezbollah terrorists launched two mortar shells across the border with Israel in the Mount Dov area on Monday afternoon, in violation of the November 26 ceasefire agreement, the Israel Defense Forces [IDF] said.

“A short time ago, the Hezbollah terrorist organization carried out two launches toward the Mount Dov area [in the Golan Heights], which fell in open areas, there were no casualties,” the IDF said in a statement.

The Iranian-backed terrorist organization took responsibility for the attack, claiming it fired at an Israeli military outpost “as a warning.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz stated following the mortar assault in the north, “We promised to respond to any violation of the ceasefire by Hezbollah—and that is exactly what we will do. Hezbollah’s firing at the IDF post on Mount Dov will be met with a harsh response.”

“What was will no longer be,” the Israeli defense minister concluded.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack “constitutes a serious violation of the ceasefire, and Israel will respond strongly to this.”

He added, “We are determined to continue to enforce the truce, and to respond to any violation by Hezbollah—minor or serious.”

The IDF subsequently announced on social media that its forces were “attacking targets in Lebanon,” without sharing further details.

Earlier on Monday, the IDF said that it operated in the morning and on Sunday in response to threats posed by Hezbollah in violation of the truce, which went into effect on the morning of November 27.

The Lebanese violations included several military vehicles operating in the area of a Hezbollah missile manufacturing site in the Beqaa Valley that were struck and terrorist infrastructure sites used to smuggle weapons next to the Syria-Lebanon border in the Hermel area.

“These posed a threat to the State of Israel and were a violation of the ceasefire understandings,” the military statement noted, adding that “the IDF is operating against any threat against the State of Israel.”

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told Sky News Arabia on Monday that Jerusalem remains committed to the ceasefire terms.

“UNIFIL [United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon] forces and the Lebanese government must fulfill their roles—this is also in their interest. We need this period to ensure there are no terror bases there,” he said, emphasizing that the Lebanese people and government must ensure that “Beirut and southern Lebanon are free of weapons—not in homes, not in yards and not in children’s rooms.”

Under the terms of the truce, Israeli forces are to withdraw from Lebanon over a period of 60 days, while Lebanon’s official army enters those areas vacated by the IDF. Hezbollah already violated the terms of the ceasefire on the first day, according to the Israeli military.

The governments of France and the United States, which are members of the monitoring mechanism overseeing the Israel–Lebanon ceasefire agreement, have also claimed violations by Jerusalem, primarily the alleged use of IDF surveillance drones over Beirut.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said he told his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot on Monday that “Israel is not violating the ceasefire understandings but is instead enforcing them in response to Hezbollah’s violations.”

In a statement, the diplomat reiterated Jerusalem’s commitment to implementing the agreement and made it clear that Israel “will not return to the reality of October 6, 2023,” the day before the Hamas-led massacre in the northwestern Negev that triggered the war in Gaza.

Posted on December 3, 2024

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on December 2, 2024. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Ayal Margolini/Flash90/jns.org